Montez's Scout
by GypsyGrl77
Summary: Gabriella Montez turned to look at Ryan Evans, her currently silent best friend. Troy Bolton, the third piece to their friendship puzzle, continued on with his opinion when Ryan said nothing. Complete!
1. Chapter 1

This chapter is set in the past. I realize that it is a little out of character for the three, but I just couldn't resist!

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"You know, Scout is not really worth all of this trouble. If we get caught, I am going to put every bit of blame on you. Do you realize that?" 

"Hey! We snuck her in together. This is a fifty-fifty mistake if we get caught. Or, well, I guess it's really more a thirty-three – thirty-three – thirty-three deal, right?"

Gabriella Montez turned to look at Ryan Evans, her currently silent best friend. Troy Bolton, the third piece to their friendship puzzle, continued on with his opinion when Ryan said nothing.

"You can split it so many times that you bring in Ms. Darbus if you want to, you're still to blame. You're the only one here who was dying to have a dog, not me and Ryan."

Gabriella looked around the stable they were hiding out in to play with Scout, their small puppy. As usual, Scout hid in the back corner of the horse stable. Melly, the paint Troy's father paid to have housed in the school's stable, had finally gotten used to Scout's yipping and almost acted as a second mother. Troy was brushing Melly, not wanting her to feel neglected. Ryan, even more surly than usual, took the position of look-out to be certain that Darbus didn't discover their "pet violations". Even a dog as small as Scout could be taken away.

"You wanted a dog, and you know it! You're just jealous I named her Scout instead of Darby. If we ever wanted to talk about her, Darbus would have given us detention!" exclaimed Gabriella as she held Scout and allowed her to lick her nose.

"Didn't the two of you already have this conversation?" asked Ryan, always jumping in before anything became too ugly to stand.

"Sorry, Ryan," Gabriella and Troy coursed.

Gabriella couldn't remember a time when she and Ryan hadn't been friends at the East Academy for Young Men and Women. He always seemed to know exactly how she felt, and never judged her without an explanation. Ryan was calm, quiet, and could resolve any fight. Gabriella knew she could always trust him.

Troy was a different story. It wasn't that he wasn't their best friend; it was just that Gabriella had more than friendship on her mind. She had met Troy two years ago in that very stable, since it was one of the few buildings that boys and girls share. Gabriella was waiting for Ryan to come, so they could talk before Darbus took dinner roll-call. As she waited in the corner of a pretty new paint's stall, a boy with fair hair and blue eyes walked up to tell her "that paint is my horse", and how she should never come near "without permission". Gabriella took this to mean that he wanted her to ask for permission some other time, and the three became friends. Sometimes Gabriella would think that Troy felt exactly as she did, but then he would say some comment that was back in character, and Gabriella would just be happy they were friends.

While Gabriella reminisced about all the obstacles they had overcome, Troy looked around the stable. As she watched, he squatted down and picked up a blue glowing stone. Turning it over and over in his hands, he snapped Gabriella and Ryan out of their daydreams and memories to see it.

"What is it?" breathed Gabriella.

"How should I know? I was brushing Melly when some hay shifted and I saw this. Ryan, you're good with guessing the unexplained, so what's up?" Troy asked as he turned more towards Ryan.

"No clue yet. May I see it? Thank you. I wonder…. is it pulsing out the light?" muttered Ryan to himself as he deduced the facts.

At this time, Ryan held out the stone and both Troy and Gabriella reached for it. Scout tried to jump up and grab the "new toy" and succeeded. Then the stone began to glow brighter.

Gabriella cried, "No, Scout, go-"

And then they all disappeared.

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Want more? Review, and the magic of their presence will cause more of the story to appear quicker! 

Love ya, GypseyGrl77


	2. Chapter 2

Here is a short little filler, showing a some of where they end up, as well as lead into the next chapter.

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Splash.

Gabriella Montez was never much of a swimmer. As a girl in 1910, it was thought by her parents that she had much more important activities to attend to. So if she could not swim, why was she in the ocean?

Gabriella called out for help, hoping maybe Troy and Ryan had come to this place as well. Suddenly, she heard a splash quickly followed by another, rhythmic enough to be a swimmer. Then Troy came into view, grabbed Gabriella, and headed toward the shore.

As they lay gasping for air and freezing from the cold, Gabriella turned to Troy to thank him. However, Troy held his hand up and shook his head. Ryan suddenly appeared, with Scout on his heels. Gabriella stood, wrung out her hair, and caught her breath. As Troy continued to pant, sitting on the sand, Ryan walked up behind the two. They all wanted to speak, but no one knew what to say.

Just as Gabriella had worked up the courage to talk, Scout ran before them and began to aggressively bark into the distance. Three figures appeared, their shadows lengthened dramatically across the sand. They were calling out to the group, who had all frozen under the blinding light….

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I know this is short, but I had to have something before the next update. The following chapter will be longer, I promise. Again, more reviews equal more chapters!

Love ya, GypseyGrl77


	3. Chapter 3

Here is that longer chapter I promised. Enjoy!

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Belle loved the East Coast more than anywhere in the world. She traveled to Europe with her parents and to the West Coast to visit her brother Shain at college. She had even been to the Midwest to visit her mom's relatives and to the South to visit her dad's. Nothing was quite like the cool spray on her face and the trees that seemed older than time. Nothing could ever compare. That particular morning, Belle had convinced Shain, who was home for winter break, to take a walk with her and their dog, Mickey. The Great Dane had put on some weight while Shain was away, so any chance to go out was good enough for him.

They took their normal route from their house down to the sandy beach along the nearby cove. Mickey, glad to see the familiar scenery, barked hello at the birds and trees. Finally, they came to the hill and gazed at the view of the ocean from their favorite place. It was like magic for Belle, who missed her brother much more than she would like to admit. He always knew what she was thinking, and caught on like Mickey after a squirrel.

"I miss walking with you. This was always when we had a chance to talk, and now I'm never home. I know one look at the ocean doesn't erase all of the other times we could have been here this year, but it is better than not being able to be here at all. I hope you can forgive me," Shain said, looking toward the beach.

"It's okay, Shain, I know-"

"Belle, I wasn't talking to you! I was having an intimate moment with Mickey!" Shain exclaimed in mock anger.

Belle laughed and replied, "Thanks for cheering me up. Look, I'm so much happier now that the sky is clearing."

As Shain and Belle looked at how the beach sparkled from the morning rays of the sun, Belle saw three people around her age at the water's edge. The brunette girl was wringing out her hair and glancing discretely at the boy panting on the ground. He was hunched over like his breath would never return. The other boy was tall and the only one dry, yet he seemed the most unhappy. He glanced from the brunette girl to the fair boy continuously, as if he knew something was between them that he didn't like. None of them made it obvious enough that each other realized they were looking, but to Belle and Shain it was like the zoom on a camera.

As brother and sister turned to look at one another, the three-some's small dog began to yip at them vigorously. Belle and Shain immediately began to yell for their attention, and Mickey's booming bark made all three freeze as if the sun's rays had paralyzed them. When none turned to gaze at them, Shain and Belle raced down the hill they had played on so many times before. With Mickey hot on their heels, all three strangers jumped at the sight and about took off running into the water.

Belle knew how disastrous this would be, as the temperature was much too cold for comfort. She cried out "Wait!", and was immensely grateful that they turned around to listen.

She continued, "Two of you are already soaking, you must be freezing! Why on earth are you wearing those clothes? I'm Belle, by the way, and this is my brother, Shain, and our dog, Mickey. Don't worry about him; he's really as gentle as a lamb. Your dog is so tiny and cute. What's her name?"

This was all said very fast. The three seemed as if they had barely taken in any of it at all. Then the brunette stepped forward, with an expression on her face as if she knew the other two would never break the ice.

"Hello. My name is Gabriella Montez, and these are my friends Ryan Evans and Troy Bolton, and this is our dog Scout. We're not really from around here. Would you mind telling us where we are?" she asked in a calm, even voice that was betrayed with an ending crack.

Shain stepped forward and replied, "You're on the East Coast in America, and this is January of 2006. Are you on your way to a costume party or something, because no one has dressed like that for 100 years."

Gabriella looked as if she were about to faint when she heard this news, and glanced back at her two friends to see their reactions to this update. Troy looked a bit green, and Ryan actually jerked compulsively for a moment, as if he could throw himself back to where they had come from. Later, Belle would remember that even the puppy looked shocked out of sound.

"Are you serious? You can't be serious. This is some sick new way for Darbus to punish us for Scout or a prank by the upperclassmen! I looked at the calendar this morning, Gabriella, and it said January 1910, not 2006! Ryan, you need to put some logic into these people. They clearly have lost it! Does anyone else have a reaction to this or am I just taking my turn at reading from my diary today?" ranted the one who must have been Troy.

"Please, Troy, relax," said Ryan. "Let's just calm down and ask them some questions. Are you sure it is not January, 1910?"

"Yes," Shain relented, with a sarcastic edge to his voice, "unless I suddenly became my great-grandfather."

"Have you studied that period in time?"

"Sure, everyone has to for US History class or not graduate."

"Is this the style of clothing they wore then?"

"Yeah, I remember because that's when bikes picked up and women were able to wear some stuff other than corsets and ball gowns."

"Such as what Gabriella is wearing now?"

"Yeah, although it does look a bit like a uniform."

"That's because it is a uniform. Look, you don't have to believe us, and I most likely would not believe you myself, but we are from the year 1910, go to a school called East Academy, and have no clue what happened to us."

Both Belle and Shain looked shocked at this, and then began to glance around as if they expected some men to show up and explain that these three were the local loonies and needed stronger strait jackets. When none appeared, they both shook their heads in the same family-type way, looked at each other again, and then …… smiled. Then Belle stepped forward and said the words that shocked all but Shain.

"Hello Grandpa Troy and Grandma Gabriella."

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Gasp! Gotta love a good old cliffhanger. Review and your desire for more updates will be granted.

Love ya, GypseyGrl77


	4. Chapter 4

Remember that cliffhanger... secrets are revealed. Lives are changed. Peril ensues. And all in one chapter!

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This time Gabriella really did faint.

"How on Earth is that possible?" asked Troy, as he held Gabriella and listened to the story. Suddenly, now that they knew they had great-grandkids, they didn't feel like they had to hide their feelings anymore.

Shain took over from here, telling the famous family story as briefly as possible: "While you were at East Academy, (which, by the way, every descendant of yours now has to attend) Troy had a horse his father paid for named Melly, correct? Right, so when Melly gave birth to twins on your senior year, you gave one to Gabriella as an engagement gift, which she accepted. Troy named the boy Montez, so the name would never leave their lives, and Gabriella named hers after her old dog, Scout. The day after graduation, you were married.

"Now since the two of you came from two families of old money and had two fit, young horses that were beautiful and of opposite genders, you decided to raise horses. Of course, we are not talking about any old type of horses; we are talking about some of the fastest race horses ever. Montez's Scout became better known when Montez, Scout, and their stallion son Ryevs all took trophies at the Kentucky Derby. By then, no one bet against a Montez's Scout horse again.

"That ranch still produces the fastest horses on the planet. It is the business I will take over from my dad someday, with Belle here as my partner. You see, Montez's Scout was not only known for its horses, though they were a big part; it was also known as the only successful business operation ever to exist up to that time with a woman as Co-President."

"What about me?" asked Ryan; for he had not missed that the stallion had been named Ryevs.

Shain looked to the ground and replied, "At the 1913 East Shooting, you were the first to die. You leaped in front of Gabriella and took her bullet."

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Just when you thought that the cliffhanger-induced agony was over, another one gets right up in your face! To know the ending, review. Review!

Love ya, GypseyGrl77


	5. Chapter 5

Here it is, the epic finale! All will be revealed to you, reader of the fanfic.

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The entire world stopped for Gabriella, Ryan, and Troy in that moment. If they wanted for Belle and Shain to exist, then they would have to go back and let Ryan die. Either way, all three knew that for the rest of their lives they would have to carry with them the burden that they had ended one or more person's life indirectly.

Gabriella stood and looked to the small group. She had made her decision, and she knew that Ryan and Troy would agree with her. They always agreed with her in the end, just like they had about Scout. They just had to listen to her explain the reasons. Gabriella thought back to the story that had just been told to her, and realized that much of Montez's Scout probably did come from her. She could see already that she was the one who had to get the ball rolling. Once Gabriella had done that, Troy had the gift of continuing to push as far as it can go. However, he needed Gabriella to start him off.

"I have decided that the best course of action would be to go back. I realize that this means Ryan will have to die or the future will drastically change. However, and I believe that Ryan will agree with me on this one; ten people's live are worth more than one life," Gabriella solemnly said as tears rolled down her checks.

Ryan stood beside Gabriella and held her close, with Troy joining moments later. They all knew this is what they would have had to chose, but none of them had wanted to admit it. Ryan looked out over the ocean as it sprayed all of their faces.

"I have the stone in my pocket. I found it when Troy swam out to save you, Gabriella. I knew we would want to go back; I just didn't know that it would be under these pretenses," said Ryan in a flat voice.

He disengaged himself from his two best friends and looked straight to Shain and Belle. Gabriella could see that he had a few more questions.

"I have three questions for you. I will say them all at once and then I ask that you answer them to the best of your ability," he said.

Shain nodded and motioned for him to proceed.

Ryan obliged. "When you heard our names, why did you not react? Why were not as surprised to find us here? And do you know anything more about me?"

Shain took a deep breath and began: "When both Gabriella and Troy died, they said that when they were younger, they promised not to speak ever of an experience they had with their friend, Ryan. They said they came to the year 2006, met Shain and Belle, their grandchildren, and decided that they would condemn their best friend to die. Many people had heard about this story, so they come up to us and say they are Gabriella, Troy, and Ryan. However, they always mess something up. They believe that Troy and Gabriella had married out of guilt or necessity. Each one has forgotten that you two actually love each other, and did not only marry because of Ryan. I have seen video (moving pictures) of the two raising horses and the looks they give one another are just like the one I see now. So to answer your question, I thought I would humor you.

"The reason this beach is our favorite place is because Gabriella and Troy said they had found the beach they went to. Belle and I have come here, hoping to meet you ever since.

"And….. there is one other thing I know about you, Ryan. One night, my mom (your granddaughter) found Gabriella crying in her room. Everyone else was out for one reason or another, so my mom went to ask what was wrong. Gabriella turned to her and said this: 'When Ryan died, he told me that even though he knew he would take this bullet, he also knew he would have done it without knowing. He told me that even though I loved Troy and always would, and even though Troy loved me more than should be humanly possible, he had loved me as much as he could. He also told me that I should not let this knowledge fill me with guilt, for I had done him no wrong. I had given him the greatest gift I could….. my friendship.'"

With that, there was nothing more anyone could say. Ryan reached for the glowing blue stone in his pocket, and held it out so everyone could reach. Once even Scout had clamped her teeth on, Belle and Shain moved back, knowing that Gabriella and Troy would be happy with one another again. Gabriella looked at the two men in her life that truly loved her, and then said the word they both were waiting to hear: Go.

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As weird of a HSM story as this is, it still kinda grew on me. And I know that I could have updated many of the chapters together, as this is a short fic, I liked to draw it out. Besides, now I officially completed my first chapter story!

Love ya, GypseyGrl77


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